COR Night draws large number of youth - Bishop Zielinski evening keynote

by Kevin Losleben

OLIVIA – Over 160 youth and their adult chaperones gathered on Sunday, Dec. 11, 2022, at St. Aloysius in Olivia for the diocesan-sponsored COR Night. They came for many reasons, but inarguably the biggest draw was to hear their newly appointed bishop speak.

After some youthful games and a time for praise featuring live contemporary Christian music, Bishop Chad Zielinski took the stage. His talk was built on a theme he developed while bishop of Fairbanks, Alaska, namely that we are to be “protectors of the Incarnation” like St. Joseph in the way we live our American citizenship as faithful Catholics. Just as St. Joseph had to defend the Infant Jesus from King Herod’s murderous jealousy, so too, Bishop Zielinski said that “The threat of Herod that we face today comes in the form of government systems and leaders throughout the world, and sadly in our nation, who over the past years have advanced the killing of the unborn.”

The topic is poignantly relevant to youth today. Faced with a barrage of confusing and outright evil messages regarding abortion, gender, and their own selfworth, the youth need to hear a clear voice proclaim the truth of “Christian anthropology,” which, as the bishop articulated, “means that we are created in the image and likeness of God, how God created us. . . He got it right! You don’t need to change that.”

Although we all need to defend the image of God in each and every human being, the bishop emphasized that a great deal of the burden of ensuring this message is proclaimed falls to himself as a bishop. “We hear from the Prophet Jeremiah – and this comes to me, so I’m speaking about myself here,” – ‘Woe to the shepherds who mislead and scatter the flock of my pasture, says the Lord’…”

The bishop added, “As a successor of the Apostle[s], I am called to shepherd the faithful of the Diocese of New Ulm. I have to seriously ponder my culpability for not responding, full-throated, as a prophet, as a protector of the Incarnation.”

Ask the bishop!

Following the bishop’s talk, the youth were encouraged to discuss his main points and submit questions. Questions varied from lighthearted to serious.

Many youth were interested in the bishop’s time in Alaska. When asked what his favorite animal to hunt in Alaska is, he answered: moose. “I think I’ve shot five moose up there.”

Eli from Morgan asked him about his favorite experiences in Alaska. Bishop Zielinski said that he had many, but he recounted “getting in a helicopter and flying to the island of Little Diomede which is

2.4 miles from Russia.” He also recalled everyday experiences in Alaska that to us would seem exotic, such as “going to a potluck after [celebrating] Confirmation and you’re eating walrus and seal and muskox and whale and all kinds of strange things.” As an avid outdoorsman, he enjoyed “catching big salmon, monster pike on a fly rod, and harvesting moose, ducks and geese.”

On a more serious note, one youth asked, “What encouraged you to be a priest?”

Bishop Zielinski responded that when he was in high school, his parish priest was the vocation director. “Every time we would go out the door, Father would look at me, and he would say, ‘Have you ever thought about becoming a priest?’”

Annoyed, the young Chad Zielinski “would get up out of the pew” after Mass, figure out which door the priest was at, and “would go out the opposite door.”

Once in the military, people continued to encourage him to become a priest, and he began taking it more seriously. “Some of these young men – I can guarantee you – in this room right now,” the bishop said aiming his attention at the boys in the room, “God is going to call some of you to become priests. Open your heart, open your mind, open the door, let him speak to you,” he said.

The next COR Night will be Sunday, Feb. 26 in Olivia. Visit www.dnu.org/youth for details.